Improvement in rubber butt-plates for guns



W; H;-;. THORNTUN & -,A. BEAM. Rubber Butt-Plate for Gun.

Nd. 202,606. Ptentd April 16; I878.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. THORNTON AND ALFRED BEAM, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONN.-

IMPROVEMENT IN RUBBER BUTT-PLATES FOR GUNS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 202,606, dated April 16, 1878; application filed January 21, 1878.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. THORN- TON and ALFRED BEAM, both of New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Scabbard for a Gun-Breech, of which the fol lowing is a specification:

Our invention consists of an elastic scabbard or sheath for a gun-breech, which may be attached or removed at pleasure, as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gunbreech scabbard which embodies our invention; and Fig.2 is a section of the same, together with a portion of the gun-breech.

We form the scabbard ofv soft india-rubber. The sides a conformto the sides of the-gunbreech A, and consequently the scabbard is tapering toward its open end. The solid bottom 1) conforms'to the end of the breech, and is preferably made thicker at the corners, which extra thickness may extend upward a short distance on the sides a.

By stretching the elastic sides the scabbard may be drawn over the end of the breech A and incase it, as shown in Fig. 2. The elasticity of the sides will, if the scabbard is properly fitted, retain the device in place upon the breech, as well as allow it to be attached and detached therefrom, as may be desired.

These scabbards are designed for military use, more particularly at the armory or indoors, to protect the floor of the armory or hall from being injured by the guns coming violently in contact therewith, as in ordering arms. In such case the force of the blow is received by the thicker parts of the scabbard, and the floor is uninjured. The gun is also rendered more durable, as its concussion in ordering arms is much less when the scabbard is interposed between the floor and the I gun. The scabbard will also prevent the guns from slipping on a floor, so that arms may be stacked upon a smooth floor as well as elsewhere.

When on a parade, or for any out-of-door exercise, the scabbard may be detached, and the whole breech of the gun exposed to view.

We are aware that pads have been heretofore permanently secured to the end of the gun-breech, soas to constitute a part of the breech, as shown in the patent to H. A. Silver, September 14:, 1875, No. 167,701. In this V patent the end of the breech was made fiat instead of hollowing, as usual, and the'adjacent side of the pad was also flat, in order to facilitate fastening thereto in a permanent manner. The rubber did not extend upward on the side of the breech, and there is no suggestion in said patent of making the pad in any other form. Such a construction is applicable only to guns made specially to receive it without the ordinary metallic mountings, and not to guns previously in use. It is, in fact, nothing but a pad or cushion, and is not in any way entitled to the name of scabbard.

We believe ourselves to be the first to inventor use a removable or detachable pad for a gun-breech of any kind, or one which was provided with means of any kind whatsoever by which it could be readily attached to and detached from a gun-breech, when desired; Our scabbard can be readily applied to guns used in armories or elsewhere, as well as to new guns, and that independent of the fact whether the end of the breech be deeply curved or otherwise. It is not only removable, but can be attached and removed without making screw-holes in the gun-breech, or in any other way defacing it, so that on parade it comes out in all its original beauty, not in the least marred or soiled by the rough use it may have been subjected to.

We are also aware that small articles, such as lead-pencils and chair-legs, have been provided with rubber tips, havlng flat-bottomed holes to receive the end of such articles; but such tips are not applicable to the breech of a gun without material modification. Our scabbard or pad does not have aflat-bottomed interior; but its inside is curved at the bottom to conform to the end of the ordinary gunbrcech.

We claim as our invention The herein-described elastic scabbard for a gun-breech, consisting of the sides a, converging toward each other at the top, and the bottom b, curved on its interior surface to conform to the hollowing end of the gunbreech, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

' WM. H. THORNTON.

ALFRED BEAM. Witnesses:

JAMES SHEPARD, WILL B. THOMSON. 

